In early October, OJ Simpson was found guilty of 10 felony charges (including armed robbery and kidnapping) brought against him stemming from an incident that occurred in Las Vegas, NV in September of 2007 and today was his day to pay for his crimes. Because of the nature of the felony crimes he was convicted of, OJ was facing a minimum of 6 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison … in a Nevada courthouse just moments ago, OJ was sentenced to 15 years in the big house (tho The New York Times says he’ll serve at least 9 years in prison before he’ll even have a chance at parole):

A Las Vegas judge sentenced fallen gridiron great O.J. Simpson to at least 15 years in prison for leading an armed hotel room confrontation over sports memorabilia in 2007. Simpson could become eligible for parole in about nine years. Grimacing, his head cast down, Simpson was escorted from the courtroom in shackles. Judge Jackie Glass gave Simpson a tongue-lashing before passing sentence. “Earlier in this case, at a bail hearing, I said to Mr. Simpson I didn’t know if he was arrogant, ignorant or both,” Glass said. “During the trial and through this proceeding I got the answer, and it was both.” She stressed that the sentence was not “payback for anything else,” apparently referring to Simpson’s acquittal 13 years ago in the slayings of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. His voice shaking, Simpson had apologized in court and insisted he was merely trying to recover property that had been stolen from his family. He was convicted of leading a group of armed men into a room at Palace Station Hotel and Casino, where they planned to take sports memorabilia from dealers Bruce Fromong and Al Beardsley. “I stand here today sorry, somewhat confused. I feel apologetic to people of state of Nevada,” Simpson began. At times, he appeared to be fighting tears as he spoke. The judge said Simpson’s contrite words in court were not as powerful as his angry words, as caught on tape, during the confrontation. “Everything in this case was on tape,” Glass said. “The evidence in this case was overwhelming.” She continued, “You went to the room. You took guns. You used force. You took property, and in this state, that amounts to robbery with the use of a deadly weapon.” Simpson, who wore blue jail scrubs to court for Friday’s sentencing, did not testify during his trial. He was convicted of armed robbery, kidnapping and assault on October 3 — 13 years to the day after his Los Angeles murder trial ended with an acquittal. Simpson’s tone became more impassioned as he insisted he never intended to intimidate people or steal property. “I didn’t want to steal anything from anybody,” Simpson said, adding that among the items he sought to recover were a wedding ring for his daughter and family photos for his son. “I just wanted my personal things. I was stupid. I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was doing anything illegal. I thought I was confronting friends. I thought I was retrieving my things. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody and I didn’t mean to steal anything,” Simpson said. Simpson and co-defendant C.J. Stewart could have received life sentences for their roles in the 2007 confrontation at a Las Vegas hotel.

It seems very clear to me that the judge in this case was merely doing her duty in making sure that a convicted criminal serve an adequate sentence in prison in order to pay back his debt to society for THESE crimes he was convicted of. That being said — fate is fate, karma is karma and justice usually finds a way of being served. That OJ Simpson thought he could brandish weapons in order to “not steal” property that he believed was his is totally stupid and foolish (just like he admitted in open court today). To pay for those crimes, he is going to have to rot in jail for a very long time. I say, good riddance. To me, the man belongs behind bars … he has no concept of right and wrong (as is evident by his bungled burglary attempt) and is due for a hard lesson. Enjoy prison, OJ. You absolutely got what you deserve.

[Source]

The happily married Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are each featured individually on the cover and in the pages of the new Reinvention issue of The New York Times Style Magazine (not to be confused with the mere New York Times Magazine) this week. In coverphotos that pay homage to actors and actresses of Hollywood’s Golden Age, TomKat each get TWO of thier own magazine covers … cuz they’re just that big, y’all:

With such high profiles nowadays it appears Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are both now too big to appear on the same front cover. The couple have such star appeal that they have each been given the full-on Forties glamour treatment – and their own individual covers for T: The New York Times Style Magazine. This week’s Reinvention issue shows Katie with curled hair and elegant gowns – evoking Hollywood’s ultimate heroines such as Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner and Veronica Lake. With his upturned collar and his side-parted slicked hair, Tom looks every bit the war-time hero. The Forties fashion spread has been selected to promote his latest film Valkyrie in which he plays German aristocrat Colonel Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg who led a plot to blow up Adolf Hitler in 1944. The movie, directed by Usual Suspects writer Bryan Singer, has been created to showcase Cruise’s acting talents and hopefully revive his career which has gone off course in recent years. In the accompanying interviews, the couple open up about the dynamics of their high-profile relationship. Katie tells the publication: “There’s a misperception about me that I just became this wallflower, this woman who doesn’t have any control of her life. And that’s pretty wrong. From the very beginning, I’ve made choices in my life that have been very strong.” For his part, Tom reminisces about their early romance and admits he bought Katie an engagement ring shortly after their first date in 2005. “I knew I wanted to marry Kate when I met her,” he says. “After our very first date, I was sure. At one point, I thought she was going to ask me to marry her first and I cut her off by changing the subject. I wanted to ask her.”

Okay … wanting to buy an engagement ring after the first date does sound a bit creepy but in the world of TomKat … meh, it makes sense. There is still a lot about this couple that weirds me out (and always has from the beginning) but they appear to be making a successful go at a relationship and still seem very happy committed to one another. I admit I never thought it would last and yet, here they are. Normally I would balk at the need for individual magazine covers but these photos are so amazing, I can’t even complain. After the jump, check out the other two alternate magazine covers as well as a few pics from inside the mag AND video interviews with Tom and Katie — yeah, The New York Times Style Magazine went ALL OUT for these two …

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One-time Country-Pop Music superstar Shania Twain has been keeping a very low-profile in recent years and even more so after it was announced back in May that she and her husband of 14 years Robert Mutt Lange were divorcing. At the time, we heard that the split came about because Mutt was sniffin’ around Shania’s family friend Marie-Anne Thiébaud (who was also the Twain-Lange family’s private secretary and house manager of their home in Switzerland) a bit too much and reportedly started having an affair with her. Shania has only made one public appearance since news of her break-up came to light (at the Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, TN last month) … until now. Here are new pics of Shania arriving at JFK Airport in NYC with a mysterious gentleman following close behind her … and then was seen near her outside of the airport … and then was seen IN HER CAR as she drove away from the airpot. HMMM. Just who is this mysterious man?

Shania Twain smiled radiantly after touching down at New York’s JFK Airport on Thursday following a flight from Switzerland. Perhaps her pearly-white grin was a result of her hunky traveling companion? Sources tell Star that — get this — the fella is the husband of the woman who allegedly had an affair with Shania’s husband. If you remember, when Shania and her music producer hubby, Robert “Mutt” Lange, announced the end of their marriage, it was alleged that they split because he was having an affair with Marie-Anne Thiébaud, who was the longtime secretary and house manager at Shania and Mutt’s Switzerland estate. Marie-Anne and her businessman husband, triathlete Frédéric Thiebaud, were close friends and often their two families would vacation and spend holidays together.

Interesting. I’m not sure that I would necessary go for the ex-hubby of the person who cheated with my husband but the guy was there are the right time to commiserate with dear Shania in her time of woe. It really feels like an overly complicated situation to me … because Shania and Mutt share a child (and, presumably, Marie-Anne and Frédéric do as well) these couples are going to be forever connected to one another. I suppose it’s possible that once tempers cool down and everyone moves forward the families can mebbe once again be friends again? Yeah, it’s weird. Altho Shania is well aware of whose bed Freddy’s boots have been under, she would prolly be better served if she moved on with a brand new man who is totally uninvolved with any of this drama … and we would be better served if she would get her butt back in the studio and release a new album of music! Mebbe now that she’s happy again she can do just that. What do y’all think? Does this new romantic sitch for Shania Twain sound like a good one to y’all?

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

Vicki B., who jetted off to the UK last Sunday to do some promo work to peddle her high end dresses line there, made her way back to US soil when she arrived at JFK Airport late yesterday afternoon. Altho, Ms. Thang wasn’t lookin’ her absolute best while she was in London, I gotta admit that she was lookin’ pretty damn put together as she stepped off her plane yesterday:

I love the all black, supertight outfit. She kinda looks like a superhero or a cat burglar or something. VB looks her best when she keeps it simple. Sure, she still looks like an animatronic mechanical robot but at least she also looks like a super stylish animatronic mechanical robot. Now that David Beckham has made his way to the other side of the planet to play soccer in New Zealand, it’s time that VB gets home to take care of the kiddies. I bet the’ve missed her and her cold, icy stares/hugs/love.

[Photo credit: Bauer-Griffin]

Britney Spears, fresh from her trip to NYC where she was on hand to participate in the Xmas tree lighting ceremony in Rockefeller Center which took place on Wednesday night, was on hand here in downtown LA to do the special honor of lighting the Xmas tree at the LA Live! entertainment complex last night. Here are a few pics of Brit Brit at last night’s event, who was joined by her father Jamie Spears and her young sons (wearing adorable matching outfits) Sean Preston and Jayden James:

Topping off a celebratory week that included her 27th birthday and the debut of her new CD Circus, Britney Spears was the surprise guest who lit the tree at Thursday’s launch of L.A. Live! for the premiere performance of Light of the Angels at the Nokia Theater. Sharing the Christmas spirit with her were sons Jayden and Preston and father Jamie – as well as host Adam Carolla and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Asked about her favorite holiday traditions, the pop star said being with family and tree decorating.

You gotta love that the Xmas tree for Los Angeles is a fake one made up completely of pretty lights. While NYC sticks to the old skool tradition of using actual trees, La La Land has to go the fake route … eh, that’s Tinsel Town for ya. Britney looked pretty amazing at last night’s “tree” lighting. She is one hot commodity right now and everyone is dying to get a piece of her (if you will). Ellen DeGeneres announced on her show that she will be “spending time with” Britney Spears “over the weekend” implying that the hanging out time will be taped for airing on her show sometime after. I understand that Britney will be jetting off to Japan very soon to do some promo work for the release of her new album Circus there. She’s bizzy, y’all … but appears to be handling it all very well. Folks have been very receptive and complimentary to her new music video for her titletrack single Circus which is a nice change of pace from some of the negative comments people like to level at her. After the jump, check out video from last night’s tree lighting ceremony in downtown LA including a nice introduction by Adam Carolla and the magic moment when Britney flipped the switch to light the tree …

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Alyson Hannigan, her burgeoning baby bump and her Buffy the Vampire Slayer ex-costar and all around BFF Tom Lenk stepped out for a little Xmas shopping together at The Grove shopping center here in LA yesterday afternoon. Here are cute pics of the pals mugging for the cameras:

I swear, Angels in heaven must sing in joyous unison whenever ex-BtVS castmates hang out together. It is always an amazing thing to see any one of the Buffy alums out and about but it’s an even more special sight to see them hanging out together. I understand that Aly and Tom were happy to talk and take photos with fans who they ran into … which prolly made for a very fun afternoon at The Grove. Alyson’s baby bump hasn’t grown that significantly since the the last time we saw it out and about but it shant be long now until she starts getting noticeably bigger. Wee! I am just so excited for Alyson to become a mom. Her baby can’t get here soon enough for me :)

[Photo credit: Splash News]